Age of industrialization 10th Class

Network of export trade in 18th century.

1. A number of people involved in this trade financing production, carrying goods and
supplying exporters. The supply merchants gave advances to the weavers, took back the
supply and brought it to the ports.
2. Decline of Surat and end of the 18th century. Before the age of machine industries, silk
and cotton goods from India dominated the international markets in textiles. Armenian
and Persia merchants took the goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, and eastern Persia and
central Asia .A variety of Indian merchants and bankers were involved in this network of
export trade. By the 1750s this network controlled by Indian merchants was breaking
down. Because European companies gradually gained power first securing a variety of
concession from local authorities, then monopoly rights to trade.

● What happened to the weavers

● The consolidation of east India company power after the 1760s did not initially lead to
the decline in textile exports from India. Before establishing political power in Bengal
and carnation in the 1760 and 1770s the EIC had found it difficult to ensure a regular
supply of goods for export. The French, Dutch, Portuguese as well as the local traders
competed in the market to secure woven cloth. In many places in carnation and Bengal
weavers deserted villages and migrated to setting up looms in other villages, where they
had some family relations and with the passage of time they began doing some other
agricultural activities.
● The Early Entrepreneurs.
● The history of many business groups goes back to trade with China. Like the British in
India began exporting opium to China and took tea from China to England. Having
earned through trade, some of these businessmen had vision of developing industrial
enterprises in India. In Bengal, Dawarkanath Tagore made his fortune in the China trade
before he turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint stock companies in 1830s
and 1840s.

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● In Bombay parsis like Dinshaw petit and Jamsetjee nusserwanje Tata who build huge
industrial empires in India, accumulated their wealth partly from export to China and
England.
● The peculiarities of industrial growth.
● European managing agencies, which dominated industrial production in India, were
interested in certain kinds of products. They established tea and coffee plantations,
acquiring land at cheap rates from the colonial government and they invested in mining,
indigo and jute. Most of these were products required primarily for export trade and not
for sale in India.
● By the 1st decade of the 2oth century a series of changes affected the pattern of
industrialisation. As the swadeshi movement gathered momentum, nationalists mobilised
people to boycott foreign cloth. Till the First World War, industrial growth was very
slow. The war created a dramatically new situation. With British mills busy with war
production to meet the needs of the army, Manchester imports into India declined. New
factories were set up and old ones ran multiple shifts. Over the war years industrial
production boomed.
● Market for Goods.
● We have seen how British manufacturers attempted to take over the Indian market, and
how Indian weavers and craftsmen, traders and industrialists resisted colonial control,
demanded tariff protection, created their own space, and tried to extend the market.

I. THE AGE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

Q. 1. Explain the following:

(a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
(b) In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing
peasants and artisans within the villages.
(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
(d) The East India Company appointed Gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
Ans.(a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny because it speeded up the
spinning process, and consequently, reduced labour demand. This caused a valid fear of

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 unemployment among women working in the woolen industry. Till date, they had
survived on hand spinning, but this was placed in peril by the new machine.
(b) In the seventeenth century, merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants
and artisans within the villages because production in urban areas could not be increased
due to the presence of powerful trade guilds. These maintained control over production,
regulated prices and competition, and restricted the entry of new people in the trade.
Monopolisation was also a common tactic. In the countryside, there were no such rules,
and impoverished peasants welcomed these merchants.
(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century on account of the growing
power of European companies in trade with India. They secured many concessions from
local courts as well as the monopoly rights to trade. This led to a decline of the old ports
of Surat and Hoogly from where local merchants had operated. Exports slowed and local
banks here went bankrupt.
(d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India to establish a
more direct control over the weavers, free of the existing traders and brokers in the cloth
trade. The gomasthas were the paid servants who supervised the weavers, collected
supplies and examined the quality of cloth. The gomasthas ensured that all management
and control of the cloth industry came under the British. This helped in eliminating
competition, controlling costs and ensuring regular supplies of cotton and silk products.

Q. 2. Write True or False against each statement:

(a) At the end of the nineteenth century, 80 per cent of the total workforce in Europe was
employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
(b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth
century.
(c) The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
(d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their
productivity.
Ans. (a) False; (b) True; (c) False; (d) True.

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Q. 3. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Ans. Proto-industrialisation is the phase of industrialisation that was not based on the factory
system. Before the coming of factories, there was large-scale industrial production for an
international market. This part of industrial history is known as proto-industrialisation.

Discuss:
Q. 1. Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour
over machines?
Ans.Some industrialists in nineteenth-century England preferred hand labour over machines
because there was no labour shortage in the market, and as a result, there was no problem
of high wage costs either. Industrialists did not wish to replace hand labour with
machines that would require large capital investment. Also, in industries where the
production and amount of labour required were dependent on the seasons, hand labour
was preferred for its lower costs. Apart from this, many goods could only be
manufactured by hand. Machines could provide mass quantities of a uniform product. But
the demand was for intricate designs and shapes; this required human skill, and not
mechanical technology. Handmade products also stood for refinement and class status. It
was commonly believed that machine-made goods were for export to the colonies.

Q. 2. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk
textiles from Indian weavers?
Ans.After establishing political power, the East India Company successfully procured regular
supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers via a series of actions. These
actions were aimed at eliminating competition from other colonial powers, controlling
costs and ensuring regular supplies of cotton and silk goods for Britain. Firstly, it
appointed gomasthas or paid servants to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine
textile quality. Secondly, it disallowed Company weavers from dealing with other
buyers. This was ascertained by a system of giving advances to the weavers for procuring
raw materials. Those who took these loans could not sell their cloth to anyone but
thegomasthas.

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Q. 3. Imagine that you have been asked to write an article for an encyclopedia on
Britain and the history of cotton. Write your piece using information from the entire
chapter.
Ans. Britain and the History of Cotton: During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
merchants would trade with rural people in textile production. A clothier would buy wool
from a wool stapler, carry it to the spinners, and then, take the yarn to the weavers, fuller
and dyers for further levels of production. London was the finishing centre for these
goods. This phase in British manufacturing history is known as proto-industrialisation. In
this phase, factories were not an essential part of industry. What was present instead was
a network of commercial exchanges.
The first symbol of the new era of factories was cotton. Its production increased rapidly in the
late nineteenth century. Imports of raw cotton sky-rocketed from 2.5 million pounds in
1760 to 22 million pounds in 1787. This happened because of the invention of the cotton
mill and new machines, and better management under one roof. Till 1840, cotton was the
leading sector in the first stage of industrialisation.
Most inventions in the textile production sector were met with disregard and hatred by the
workers because machines implied less hand labour and lower employment needs. The
Spinning Jenny was one such invention. Women in the woolen industry opposed and
sought to destroy it because it was taking over their place in the labour market.
Before such technological advancements, Britain imported silk and cotton goods from India
in vast numbers. Fine textiles from India were in high demand in England. When the East
India Company attained political power, they exploited the weavers and textile industry
in India to its full potential, often by force, for the benefit of Britain. Later, Manchester
became the hub of cotton production. Subsequently, India was turned into the
major buyer of British cotton goods.
During the First World War, British factories were too busy providing for war needs. Hence,
demand for Indian textiles rose once again. The history of cotton in Britain is replete with
such fluctuations of demand and supply.
Q. 4. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Ans.Industrial production in India increased during the First World War because British mills
became busy with tending to war needs. Manchester imports decreased, and Indian mills

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 suddenly had a huge home market to supply. Later, they were also asked to supply war
needs such as jute bags, cloth for army uniforms, tents, leather boots, saddles and other
items. There was so much demand that new factories had to be set up even when old ones
ran on multiple shifts. Industrial production boomed with the employment of new
workers and longer working hours.

Project Work:

Q. Select any one industry in your region and find out its history. How has the
technology changed? Where do the workers come from? How are the products
advertised and marketed? Try and talk to the employers and some workers to get
their views about the industry’s history.
Ans. History of cotton textile in Ahmedabad (Gujarat):
1. Cotton textiles are among the oldest industries of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. One can trace it
back to the day of Indus Civilisation when cotton fabrics from Lothal (port) were send to
different parts of Asia.
2. Initially, old technology was followed by the weavers. The spinning wheel constituted its
sole machine. Ladies of the village used to spin the cotton. During the British period,
technology changed and several cotton textile mills were set up in different parts of the
country. Powerloom was used in place of handloom. Factories were opened for twenty-
four hours. Several types of machines were used. Machines of advanced technologies
invented in England and other countries in Europe were also installed.
3. The workers for cotton textile mills used to come from rural areas of Gujarat and
Maharashtra. Some of them used to come daily by cycles and most of them settled nearby
the factory. Slums developed and they created several types of problems for the city
dwellers.
4. The industry provided living to farmers, cotton ball pluckers and workers engaged in
ginning, spinning, weaving, dyeing, designing, packaging, sewing and tailoring.
5. The products were advertised by the agents of mills under the British East India Company
and local merchants and traders. The European traders used to buy fine quality of cotton
textile from Ahmadabad and that was taken to Surat.

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6. We have talked with employers and some workers of the cotton textile. Employers said
that they used to face tough competition with the British cotton textile before the
independence but after India’s independence, they could receive certain incentives. The
globalisation since 1990s have however, opened the way for “Wealth is Right” in the
form of MNCs and Gandhi’s common people including small scale industries at the brink
of extinction.
7. After 1991, as the Indian Government has adopted globalisation and liberalisation we have
to face, the competition of foreign manufactured textiles—the mill owners stated. We
have started research work in our designing units and accepted advice of fashion
designers—the mill owners said. Every year, two times, they conduct fashion shows to
promote their sale. They are having no problem from labourers as the impact of trade
union is decreasing day-by-day due to globalisation and liberalisation.
8. On the other hand, employees say that their pay packets are not attractive. They work hard
over eight hours daily and get only eye wash bonus and medical facility. The employers
express inability to give more benefits due to the environment of perfect competition at
global level. They say, such competition has reduced their margin of profit. Sometimes,
they expel some labourers also. They argue that they don’t require their services anymore
because there is no lack of workers in the labour market. Unemployment is a serious
problem for labourers which can be removed only when labour market is allowed free
from trade tariffs or barriers.

Multiple Choice Questions:

(i) In which country did the industrial revolution start?
(a) Germany c) England
(b) France d) Japan
(ii) Who invented the Spring Jenny?
(a) Richard Arkwright d) Samuel Crompton
(b) James Hargreaves d) Edmund Cartright
(iii) Which was the first industry to be set up in India?
(a) Jute c) Iron and Steel
(b) Cotton d) Sugar

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 (iv) Cotton Gin was invented by
(a) Eli Whitney (c) Richard Roberts
(b) Abraham Darby (d) Henry Bessemer
(v) he first modern jute mill in India was established in
(a) Bombay (c) Surat
(b) Bihar (d) Bengal
Ans. (i) c; (ii) b; (iii) b; (iv) a; (v) d.

Fill in the Blanks:

(a) Richard Arkwright patented the ___________
(b) Steam Engine was invented by ____________
(c) The first regular steam boat service in Britian was inaugurated in the year __________.
(d) Tata Iron and Steel Company was established at ________ in the year __________.
(e) _________Movement also added to the momentum of expansion of the Indian industries.
Ans. (a) Water Frame; (b) James Watt; (c) 1812; (d) Jamshedpur, 1912; (e) Swadeshi
Movement.

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